Baxter football rallies past Springville in season opener

BAXTER — Perrin Sulzle threw for more than 2,300 yards, ran for 512 and scored nearly 40 touchdowns last fall as the starting quarterback of the Baxter football team.

It turns out, Sulzle is pretty good at catching the football, too.

After one game of the 2024 season, the Bolts’ decision to move Sulzle to a different position looks promising.

And his all-around dominance helped Baxter rally from a 17-point second half hole on Friday during a 58-49 home win over Springville.

“I introduced the idea to coach Luther and he was on board,” Sulzle said about the conversation to change positions. “We had Eli, who was really good on JV the past few years. I think we trusted him to make plays so that’s why everyone involved was comfortable with the switch.”

Eli Dee made plenty of plays against the Orioles, too. The junior quarterback threw for 346 yards and five TDs and caught a touchdown pass on offense while also snagging two interceptions on defense.

The Bolts trailed 14-6 after one quarter, went into halftime down 28-18 and back-to-back turnovers in the third led to a 41-24 deficit.

But Sulzle was too good down the stretch. The Bolts outscored Springville 28-8 in the fourth and Sulzle caught a TD pass and ran for two more in the quarter.

Baxter head football coach Rob Luther moved Sulzle back to quarterback late in the game as the Bolts were completing their rally and trying to finish off the victory.

“Perrin was a dawg. This was Eli’s first varsity start, and we are happy with about 90 percent of it,” Luther said. “He showed some moxie. He threw some completions under pressure. But it’s nice to give teams that package with Perrin back there to show them something different.”

Both teams scored on their first two possessions of the game. Dee’s 17-yard TD pass to Stadan Vansice tied the game at 6-all and a 23-yard TD strike to Sulzle brought the Bolts within 14-12 early in the second quarter.

Dee’s first interception came on Springville’s third possession, but the Bolts fumbled the ball back to the Orioles on their next drive.

That’s when Mason Hoy sprinted 55 yards to paydirt to extend the visitor’s advantage to 22-12.

Then, Springville continued to get pressure on Dee on Baxter’s next possession. Pressure on the first play forced an incompletion and more pressure two plays later led to an interception.

The Orioles (0-1) started at the Baxter 9-yard line and scored in two plays despite committing a holding penalty on the first play of the drive. That put Springville in front 28-12.

“We got our rears kicked in the first half,” Luther said. “They were physical in every place more than us and won the line of scrimmage. We were in trouble for a long time.”

The Bolts (1-0) were able to score just before halftime. They started their possession at their own 15-yard line. Cael Wishman began the drive with a 14-yard run and Sulzle finished it with a 39-yard TD catch from Dee.

The possession also featured at 13-yard grab from Sulzle on third and 13. The Bolts trailed 28-18 at halftime, and they failed to convert all three of their 2-point conversion attempts.

Baxter kept its momentum in the third when they got within four following a six play, 40-yard drive. On third and seven, Dee hooked up with Vansice for 33 yards.

That set up Sulzle’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Dee on a wide receiver reverse pass.

Springville went back up 11 on its next drive though. Hoy got loose for 36 yards on the first play from scrimmage and then scored from 2 yards out three plays later.

The Orioles got the ball back after recovering an onside kick, but Dee snagged another interception near the goal line that went for a touchback.

“We practiced those all week,” Dee said. “One of those picks I should have just knocked down. It was fourth down near the end zone.”

Unfortunately for Baxter, Springville forced another turnover on the Bolts’ next possession and turned a fumble into a 25-yard touchdown return by Conlin Rouse, who caught a 49-yard touchdown pass in the first half.

That gave the visitors their biggest lead of the night at 41-24 with 6:26 to play in the third.

It was mostly all Baxter from there though. After a big kickoff return by Maddux Tuhn on another onside kick attempt, the Bolts needed just two plays to score. The drive ended with Dee throwing an 8-yard TD pass to Sulzle, who caught the ball after it was first deflected by an Oriole defender.

Baxter’s defense forced another turnover on Springville’s next possession. That miscue came after the Orioles returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back due to a penalty.

After a pair of first downs, Baxter’s Aiden Johnson ended the Orioles’ possession when he recovered a Hoy fumble near midfield. The run would have been another first down had Springville maintained possession.

Unlike in the first half, Baxter turned turnovers into points in the second half. And an 11-play, 50-yard drive ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Dee to Sulzle.

Baxter was aided by an offsides penalty on third and three, Sulzle grabbed an 11-yard catch on third and 10 and Wishman got another first down on a 10-yard run during the possession.

Springville turned the ball over again on its next possession. The fumble came on the Orioles’ first play from scrimmage and Jack Anderson was there for the recovery.

“They got that onside and had all of the momentum at that point,” Dee said. “We had to persevere after that. The line stepped up, the defense stepped up in the second half and Perrin made some big plays.”

Baxter converted another turnover into points after it marched 50 yards in six plays. The drive started with an incomplete pass and a false start. After a six-yard run by Cainan Travis and another incomplete pass that was almost picked off, Dee went back to Sulzle on fourth and eight and the duo hooked up for 19 yards.

Wishman capped the possession with a 5-yard touchdown run and Dee hit Cade Robinson near the sideline in the end zone for the 2-point conversion. Wishman ran for 29 yards on three carries.

It was the team’s second straight conversion after missing on their first four of the game. It also gave the Bolts their first lead of the contest at 46-41.

“It was four touchdowns to three at halftime,” Luther said. “The difference was the extra points they were getting and we weren’t. Some of that is on me. We had the wrong personnel on one and I made just a bad play call on another.

“We may have gotten to 50 percent. We pride ourselves on that stuff. We’ve had a lot of success with those. We don’t even practice kicking the ball there. If you take seven, we’ll go for eight and make you chase us. We weren’t very good on them tonight. We have to get better.”

The lead was short-lived though. Springville answered the Bolts’ go-ahead score with a 7-play, 58-yard TD drive of its own.

The Bolts were flagged for five offsides penalties in the game and two came on the Orioles’ second-to-last possession.

The first one improved a third down and seven to a third and two and the Orioles went four yards on their next play for the first down.

After a high snap resulted in a 9-yard loss, Hoy went 12 yards on second down and three on third. But another offsides penalty on fourth and four moved the sticks and Hoy scored from 35 yards out one play later.

“I don’t know that I can say anything that can be printed in the paper,” said Luther when asked about the offsides penalties. “We will address that on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday. They will bring their track shoes. You can say that.

“Outside of the big Hoy run after we jumped on fourth and four, I felt like we played really solid on defense. We just played football in the second half. But it felt like we were never going to stop them in the first half.”

The Bolts answered Springville’s drive with a final go-ahead score. After Vansice dropped a pass on first down, he hauled in a 22-yard catch on the exact same play on second down.

Robinson scampered 18 yards on a counter play after that to set up the Bolts inside the 10-yard line. Robinson finished with 19 yards on two carries and grabbed two catches for 10 yards.

Sulzle then moved back to quarterback and ran nine yards in three plays for the game-winning TD. The 4-yard touchdown run came with 2:34 to go.

Luther and the Bolts elected to keep the ball away from Hoy on the ensuing kickoff, but the shorter kick gave the ball to Springville on the 27-yard line.

The Baxter defense was superb on the Orioles’ possession though. Vansice opened the drive with a tackle for loss on first down and then Wishman stopped Hoy for negative yardage on third down.

Dee then made another play defensively when he batted the ball down on fourth and 11.

Baxter tried to run the clock out. It used Sulzle at quarterback again, but the first three runs of the drive resulted in just three yards. With 8 seconds left, Sulzle got loose on fourth and seven and scored on a 28-yard run as time expired.

“The intensity picked up. We flipped the switch after a talking to at halftime,” Sulzle said. “We made some changes defensively, and it came down to just winning the one-on-one battles. We got pushed around in the first half but turned things around in the second.

“We just believed in each other. One of our words this year is ‘mudita.’ It means having authentic enjoyment in someone else’s success. Every time I score a TD, I celebrate someone else for helping me make the play. We just appreciate each other and the hard work started to pay off in the second half.”

Hoy finished the game with 223 yards and three scores on 25 carries. That’s a big part of why Luther elected to kick the ball away from him late in the game.

“We didn’t want the ball in Hoy’s hands. We hadn’t tackled him all night,” Luther said. “They just kept falling on those short kicks so we’re happy with them starting at the 26 or so. We just didn’t want 9 touching the ball.

“They ran the ball well. They were physical at the point of attack and they will win a lot of football games this year. It was just perseverance. This group of kids believe in themselves and never think they are out of it. That really showed late. We had a lot of confidence late.”

Sulzle finished 2-for-2 through the air for 23 yards and one TD. He also rushed for 40 yards and two TDs on eight carries and had 10 catches for 132 yards and four scores.

Vansice grabbed 10 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown and Travis ran for 18 yards and gained 15 yards on three catches. The Bolts rushed for 125 yards on 31 carries.

Vansice led the Bolts with seven tackles on defense, while Wishman had 6.5 tackles and two tackles for loss. Travis also had 6.5 tackles, Trevor Hamilton collected six tackles and Anderson tallied five tackles and recovered a fumble. Sulzle chipped in 5.5 tackles and Dee had the two picks.

Springville ran for 289 yards and averaged 8.3 yards per carry. Braden Jordan passed for 58 yards and a TD, ran for 35 yards and two scores and led the Orioles with 12.5 tackles. Rouse caught the 49-yard TD pass and added nine tackles, one interception and one TD on defense.

Notes: The Bolts were without three-year starter and returning all-district lineman Carter Smith for the game. He suffered an injury during fall camp and could miss a few more weeks. Luther said he’s a big miss for the team, especially on offense. “We are hoping for CR-B. That would be two more weeks,” Luther said. “It’s already been two and a half. It happened in camp. He’ll brace up. He’s a tough kid. We’ll see how it goes. It’s a long season. I would hope he’s for sure back for St. Edmond.” … Smith is not the only Baxter player battling injury. Anderson played the game with a cast on one hand, Hamilton took a helmet to the kneecap in the contest and Travis and Vansice also are not at 100 percent right now. … Sulzle said he didn’t expect to take snaps at quarterback in the game. “Those are fun,” Sulzle said about the two completions on the wide receiver reverse passes. “It was a little bit holding my breath because I didn’t know if I should take the glove off or not. It was really sweaty under there so I left it on. The first one was an iffy pass that Eli made a great catch on. The second one was better and he was able to get a good run after the catch.”